Eligibility for accommodations at a state college or university is determined when students enroll in college and present their requests to their disability services representative. Even if students have been granted accommodations at the high school or elementary school level, or at a non-University System of Georgia institution, their documentation must be evaluated for college-level needs according to the Board of Regents criteria. Because students’ strengths and weaknesses can change as they grow and develop, consideration of their current functioning is critical in evaluating their needs relative to college-level academic expectations and support services. There are instances when a student may not meet criteria for college accommodations after having received them in earlier grades.

A student does not need to be evaluated at a center. An evaluation performed by any qualified professional with expertise in the evaluation of college-age students can serve as documentation of a disability. It is important to be sure that the professional who will perform the evaluation is aware of the Board of Regents criteria, so that all the necessary information can be included in the written documentation. See Criteria for Outside Evaluation of Students with Learning Disorders. This documentation must be presented to the disability services office at the student's college or university and be reviewed to insure that it contains the information required by Board of Regents policy.

A small number of accommodations are considered Regents level accommodations. These include:

• A course substitution for the high school College Preparatory Curriculum (CPC) foreign language requirement;
• Additional semesters in Learning Support; and
• Regents’ Test, Collegiate Placement Exam (CPE) or COMPASS modifications other than those specified in the Regents’ Testing Program Administrative Procedures

If the student is requesting a Regents level accommodation, a center must review the student's documentation and approve the accommodation. The disability services representative will obtain the student's written permission to send a copy of the documentation (outside evaluation) to the center. The center will notify the disability services representative in writing of the results of this review and will provide detailed information about the reasons for any disapprovals. Most disapprovals occur because the report does not contain all of the information required by the Board of Regents for documentation of a disability. For example, most eligibility reports from high schools documenting a learning disability contain an IQ score and scores on academic achievement tests, but do not include enough information regarding any correlated cognitive processing deficits, and may not consider socio-emotional factors that might be contributing to the learning disability.

For most accommodations, however, the student's college or university has designated individuals with expertise serving students with disabilities who will review a student’s documentation and decide which accommodations are appropriate based on the institution’s policies. If a student has been evaluated at a center, the center’s written report will include a list of recommended accommodations that are consistent with University System policy, although each college or university must make its own determination of the actual accommodations provided. If the student has been evaluated elsewhere, the disability services representative may choose to seek consultation from a center to identify appropriate accommodations based on that student’s specific needs.

The choice of accommodation must be based on the information provided in the documentation.
Examples of accommodations that can be granted if specifically justified by documentation include:

• Extended time on exams
• A quiet place for taking tests
• Permission to record lectures on tape
• Use of a non-programmable calculator
• Use of computer-based technologies for reading and/or written work
• Reduced course load
• Substitution of a high school CPC foreign language requirement
• Alternate format textbooks and materials